Premier League: Liverpool pip Leeds in opening-day thriller
Liverpool’s title defence began last Saturday with “one of the grand fixtures of English football”, said Andy Hunter in The Observer: a match against last season’s “Championship champions”, Leeds United – who are back in the Premier League after a 16-year absence. And the match more than lived up to its billing: it was a pulsating, “wildly entertaining contest” that ended in a 4-3 victory for the Reds. Leeds played like a team “intent on making up for lost time”, said Paul Joyce in The Sunday Times. Sticking to the “adventurous principles” that earned them promotion, they swarmed forward at every opportunity, and drew level three times – twice in a frenetic first half that yielded five goals, and again in the 66th minute, when Mateusz Klich “flashed a volley into the corner”. In the end, the match was settled by an 88th-minute penalty by Mohamed Salah – the Egyptian’s third goal (and second penalty). For Marcelo Bielsa’s side, it was a “heartbreaking finale”. come when they take on “lesser” opponents. Yes, their football was thrilling at times, but let’s not get carried away, said Jonathan Wilson in The Guardian. The final scoreline flattered Leeds, who had six shots to Liverpool’s 22, and who scored with all three of their chances on target (none of which was exactly clear-cut). “There will be many weeks when they are not so clinical in front of goal.” At times, the match had the dynamic of a cup tie, with “a minnow gamely throwing everything on the line” – a strategy that doesn’t feel “sustainable”.